----- Original Message -----
Sent: Wednesday, December 28, 2005 12:34
PM
Subject: [Assam] The Untold Story of the
Exploitation of Black Gold of Assam
I thought this article published in Xadin is very important, so I
summarized and translated it into English for the readers. Some maths in
section 4 are done by me, which is a bit different from the calculations of
the author Gautam Prasad Barua.
Author: Gautam Prasad Barua
In
1973, as the oil prices went up throughout the world, the Indian government
got a law passed in the parliament known as the OIDB ACT-1973 for the
development of the oil industry in the country. The act enabled the central
Indian government to impose a CESS or an extra tax for the oil produced in
Assam at the rate of 300 Rs. Per tonne, which was later increased to 1800 Rs.
Per tonne. From 1974 the Central Govt has been receiving the tax at the
above-mentioned rate.
Considering the fact that Assam produces 4.7
million tonne of oil per year now, the central government receives 850 crore
rupees as tax from Assam oil presently.
However, according to the OIDB
act, the money collected in form of tax from Assam oil should be used only in
oil exploration and development of the oil industry only in the north east
region. During the initial few years the central government lent some money to
the oil companies for development, but as soon as the oil companies achieved a
better financial condition they stopped taking this money as loans from the
central government.
Since then the central government has been using
this money collected from taxing Assam oil to stabilize its deficit budget,
which, according to the OIDB act is unlawful. There is no way that the central
government can divert this money from the head of 'oil exploration and
development in the north east' to its deficit budget.
The author
suggests that the central government should:
1. Stop imposing CESS or
extra Taxation on Assam oil immediately so that the Assam government can
impose CESS on Assam oil on its own as it does in case of Assam
Tea.
2.If the central government cannot stop imposing CESS, then the
tax money collected should be used in the development of infrastructure in the
NE region, which is allowed by the OIDB act.
3.If the Central
government says that the money collected from imposing CESS is deposited and
saved in the OIDB fund, then the central government should give us the details
how much money do they owe Assam in the form of CESS in the last 32 years and
how much it has spent in the designated heads allowed by the OIDB act.
4.If Assam has been producing at least 3.5 million tonnes of oil every
year since 1974, then CESS collected from Assam oil in the last 32 years is
201600 million rupees. If the central government has spent a single penny from
this amount anywhere except in Assam, it is unconstitutional according to the
OIDB act.
As far as we know the central government transferred this
money to a consolidiated fund, violating the OIDB act.
5.The author
suggests that a public interest litigation be filed against the central
government in the interest of Assam.
Dex matho eta
dharona, thikonar xex xari...
The most important
thing in life is never to forget who you are...
http://plaza.ufl.edu/priyanku
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